James Bay’s Chaos And The Calm was seemingly everywhere during the mid 2010’s– his husky emotive voice, dreamy clean guitars, and comfortably simple arrangements made him a household name, especially once “Hold Back The River” hit radio airwaves and launched him into a full blown superstar at the age of 24 years old.
Bay isn’t known for his guitar chops like other pop-oriented blues-rock artists (I’m looking at you John Mayer, you magnificent bastard you) but where Bay really shines is in his songwriting abilities. Chaos And The Calm features a bevy of just really well-constructed songs that have a clear preference for internal craftsmanship vs. garish curb appeal. It’s no surprise then of course that when Bay was on tour with Hozier promoting this album, none other than songwriting legend Taylor Swift grabbed him ahead of a small club show in Nashville and professed how smitten she was with his lyrics and songs.
That’s really James Bay’s Chaos And The Calm in a nutshell– a songwriter at heart who keeps things simple and gives the stories inside these songs enough space to really come alive in his hands. There’s a lot of nobility in that.
Standout Songs: “If You Ever Want To Be In Love”, “Let It Go”. “When We Were On Fire”
